The Red Reaper
by Soul's Release
Summary: It's been 2 years since Bastion Ranger died. Since then, Ruby Rose has spent the time hunting down those responsible for her friend's death. Now, she finds herself in the middle of something she never expected when she began her hunt for answers. Will she be able to find the one behind her friend's death? Rated T for death, violence, gore, and language. (On hiatus)
1. The Fall of The Roman

**Hello there everyone! It's me, Soul's Release. So this is a new story I am starting, it is a sequel to the events of chapter 12 of my other story, The Ranger And The Rose. If you haven't read it yet, go take a look, because otherwise a lot of the things in this story tie directly to events that happened in that. This story takes place 2 years after the events of the 12th chapter in that, so the characters in this are older. Also, this story DOESN'T follow the events in the RWBY timeline, instead it splits off and goes its own direction. So, anyways, without any further delay, please enjoy my newest work: The Red Reaper.**

 **3rd Person POV**

A lone woman stood on the docks of Mistral City Harbor. She wore a black blouse, a black waist cincher with red lacing and a skirt with red trimmings, completed by a red, hooded cloak. On her right hand was a black glove with a small tube sticking out of the top, while her left hand was covered by a red glove; the red glove had a silver metal symbol that resembled a rose. Her head was covered by her hood and she stood with the demeanor of one who was determined to find answers.

A ringing noise sounded of, and the figure reached into a pocket and pulled out a scroll.

"What?" she said calmly.

 _"Are you there yet?"_

"Yes, I'm here. Are you sure this is where the trail leads?"

 _"Yeah. Are you sure about this? There's no going back, if we do this."_

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm going to find her and make her pay for his death."

 _"Okay. Be careful, sis. We'll be there soon."_

The figure ended the call and placed the scroll back into her pocket. She then pushed on the tube that extended from the glove and caught a metal pole that flew out. The object began to transform into a large red and black scythe. The main portion of the blade shimmered in the moonlight as a metal insignia of a thornbush was exposed to the air. She waited for the parts to stop moving and then began walking into the city.

"Okay, Bastion. Let's go find Salem."

 **Roman Torchwick's POV**

As I sat atop one of the stools in one of the may bars in Mistral City, I sighed as I thought about the things I had done that had brought me to this point. Ever since I had met Cinder Fall, my life had been full of stealing, cheating, and killing. Not that I hadn't already been doing that, I just did it more after I met her. And the only thing I had gotten in return was disrespect. It was like I didn't do anything, I was never told about the big picture.

I took a drink from the glass of alcohol and looked up at one of the TV screens that hung on the wall. There was a news report on. It was talking about the infamous 'Red Reaper,' a vigilante of sorts. There had been reports about the guy popping up all over Vale for the last year, but now there were reports about him in Mistral. It didn't worry me though, after all, I had Neo. Besides, the only things that the Reaper did so far, was attack the White Fang. So as long as they stayed away from me, I would be okay with them doing their thing.

I took another drink and then looked at the barman. "Hey, top me off would ya," I said as I raised my glass.

The man walked over to me and took my glass, and walked towards the other end of the bar. As he refilled my glass, I looked back at the TV. As I watched, I noticed the picture get distorted and then cut to black.

"Hey, what's with that thing?" I asked, pointing at the TV.

I didn't get a response. I looked over and saw the barman was gone. "Ookaay..." I stood up and grabbed Melodic Cudgel. Then the power went out. "Neo! We're leaving. Looks like the owner forgot to pay for the power."

I didn't get a response then either. I looked around the bar, it was hard to see, but I was still unable to find Neo. She wasn't where I had left her. "Neo! Come on this isn't funny!"

As I finished speaking, an explosion blew a portion of the wall in front of me to pieces. I covered my face, shielding it from any debris. "Alright, then. Looks like someone had some fun with some Burn Dust..." I said as I dusted my coat off.

I looked up at the hole in the wall, and my blood went cold. There standing amidst the debris was a figure clothed in red and black. They were holding a large, red and black scythe.

It was the Red Reaper.

I started backing up. "H-hey there. What are you doing here?" I asked nervously.

The figure started walking slowly into the room. "I'm looking for someone. I've been told you can help me," The person said in a woman's voice.

I was shocked. The one responsible for almost 100 White Fang kills was a woman. But the part that shocked me the most was that I mildly recognized the voice, although I couldn't quite place it. I decided it would be best to play along.

"R-really? Well, who are you looking for? I'm sure we could come up with some sort of deal..."

The Reaper continued advancing. "I'm looking for Salem." The person stopped and removed a hood that they had been wearing.

I instantly grew terrified.

"R-red? How? H-how did you find me?" I asked.

"Easily, Torchwick. I'm a Huntress. So that's what I've been doing. I've been hunting you." She paused as she raised a foot and rested it upon a chair. "Do you know how long I've been looking for you?"

"No. I don't."

She sighed. "That was a rhetorical question. But, I can assure you, it's been a while. I chased you all over Vale, and now here... It's been a long time." She spun her scythe in her hand, which made me even more nervous, the last time I fought this girl, she had moved with such speed and deadly precision, it was scary.

"So, how have you been, Red?" I asked.

She glared at me. "I'm not here for small talk, so stop wasting my time. Where is Salem?"

"I don't know." I fingered a few buttons on the side of my cane, preparing a round of Burn Dust.

"Really? Because several members of the White Fang told me that you knew where could find her."

"Sorry, Red. I ain't got a clue." I said calmly. I then raised my cane and aimed it at the girl, I pulled the trigger and a fiery bullet erupted from the tip.

Before the bullet could hit her, she quickly raised her scythe in front of her and spun it, sending the round flying towards the ceiling. There was another explosion as the roof was blown up, and debris fell to the ground. I looked back at the girl, who was now shaking her head slowly.

"Really, Roman? After all this time, you try and kill me? All I wanted to do was talk," she said mockingly.

I stared at her. "Well, forgive me for misunderstanding. I find the lack of Neo, a little concerning."

"Oh, her?" She chuckled. "Neo won't be joining us, I'm afraid. I took the liberty of killing your little annoying friend. After all, I wouldn't want us to be interrupted."

I growled at the girl. I charged at her, swinging my cane at her, but she smiled as she dodged my attack. She swung her scythe as I stumbled past her and hit me square in the back. I fell to the floor on my stomach and groaned.

"Fine, you want to fight me, okay then. Let me just fix this little problem."

I turned around and watched as she grabbed my cane and raised it over her head. She smiled at me as she quickly brought it down across her knee and easily bent it in half. The metal groaned as it was bent out of shape, into a n almost perfect 90 angle. She tossed it to the ground in front of me and brushed her hands of.

"W-what do you want?" I shouted angrily.

"I already told you, I want to know where Salem is."

"I don't know, you're wasting your time."

The girl bent forward and stared at me closer. "I have a feeling that you know who does."

I just continued to sit on the ground and glare at the girl. "Yeah, I might. But what makes you think I will tell you?"

She raised her scythe and slammed it into the floor, the blade barely missing my body. I flinched as I saw it easily embed itself into the floor. She chuckled as I showed a hint of fear. Then she wrenched it out of the floor and smiled at me again.

"You wanna bet?" she asked me menacingly.

"F-fine, you want to find Salem? You're going to need to talk to Cinder," I said quickly.

The girl stood up again and transformed her scythe into a rifle. "Thank you, Torchwick. I appreciate the help." She turned and began walking away.

"What? That's it?" I stood up and started stomping after her. "You think you can come in here, beat me up, and interrogate me and then leave?" I yelled.

She stopped and turned around. I froze in my tracks, she was grinning. She pointed her sniper-scythe at me and pulled the trigger. Not even a second later, I felt the impact in my stomach. I looked down and saw a geyser of blood flowing from a hole in my body. I dropped to my knees and grabbed my stomach.

"No, I don't think that, Roman. In fact, I planned on making you suffer, but since you got impatient, I figured you're not worth it." She walked over to me and bent forward to look me in the eyes as I died.

"W-why are you d-doing this?" I asked as my body shuddered.

"Because, Salem took my best friend away from me. And I intend the favor by taking everything away from _her_." She turned and walked away, leaving me.

My vision began to get blurry and I lost the strength to stay upright. I fell forward onto my stomach and twisted my head so that I could see the girl leave.

"Goodbye, Roman. It was wonderful catching up."

"You're going to die if you go after her!" I yelled with what little strength I had left.

She laughed as she left the building.

It was the last thing I heard.

* * *

 **Ruby's POV**

As I walked away from the bar, I felt happy. Angry, but at the same time happy. Torchwick was the first of many on the path to Salem. He was the first to pay. NOw I needed to find this 'Cinder.' I decided to call one of my teammates. I pulled out my scroll and tapped on one of the contacts. As I raised my scroll to my head, I could hear the other end of the call being connected.

 _"Hello?"_

"Weiss? It's me, I need you to look for somebody for me." I said quickly.

 _"Who is it this time Ruby?"_

"The name is Cinder. Don't ask for a last name. I didn't get one."

I heard Weiss sigh in annoyance. _"Ruby, do you understand how hard it is to find people? Let alone without a last name?"_

Sorry, Weiss. I may have killed the target before I could get one," I explained.

 _"Dammit Ruby! Fine, but it's gonna take some time. Why don't you come on back to the apartment. Yang is making food and it's getting late anyway."_

"Okay, fiiine," I groaned. "I'll be there soon."

I hung up the call and placed my scroll in my pocket. I looked at my scythe and partially smiled. It had been a little over two years since Bastion had died. Since then, I had dedicated my life to hunting down anyone connected to his death, in the hopes of finding the person who had ordered the attack on him. I smiled as I thought about the time Bastion and I had spent together, I missed him, but I still had one thing to remember him by. Shortly after his funeral, I had spent two weeks modifying my scythe into a better weapon. I had spliced together his Ranger's Eye and my Crescent Rose into a much more deadly weapon. The result was a scythe with a longer blade, a larger magazine, and increased firepower. I had also taken half of each of the emblems and welded them together. The resulting emblem was half rose and half thornbush. I had named the new weapon Ranger's Rose. I sighed and put my scythe back into the glove where it belonged on my right hand. Then I pulled my hood up and began the long walk back to the apartment that my team and I were temporarily using in Mistral.

* * *

 **Janet Starkand's POV**

"I have good news."

Salem and Cinder looked at me and smiled. "And what would that be, Janet?" Salem asked me.

"The boy's restoration is almost complete and should be ready in a few days," I said with satisfaction.

Cinder opened her eyes in surprise. "Really? Then I suppose the Revitalization was a success?"

I nodded. "Yes. In fact, it was a nearly perfect process, this time."

"Wonderful. Then you may proceed with the memory imprint process." Salem said.

"Yes ma'am, right away," I said as I bowed slightly.

I turned and left the room. As I walked down the hallway in Salem's fortress, I began adjusting some things on a tablet. On its screen were various charts full of vital signs, brainwave activities, and other medical items. I pushed a few buttons and watched as the screen flashed the words CONFIRM MEMORY IMPRINT. I pressed confirm as I stepped into a clean, white laboratory. Inside was a large tank full of water. Inside the tank was the body of a boy. He had black hair, thin arms and a black mark in the shape of a thornbush on his torso. I placed my hand on the glass and smiled.

"Soon, Bastion. Soon, you will be reunited with your dear Ruby."

* * *

 **YAY!**

 **So that was the first chapter of this story. I hope you enjoyed, as I spent almost a week working on it. So, like I said, this takes place 2 years after the events of chapter 12 of my other story, The Ranger And The Rose. As such, none of the events in this are continuations of that story, except for what happened in the 12th chapter. Also, the Ruby in this story is very different from the nice, happy, and naive Ruby people may be used to. If you remember, Bastion died in chapter 12 of The Ranger and The Rose, so Ruby has suffered PTSD from him dying in her arms. So things in this are going to be a lot darker than you may expect.**

 **Anyways, I want to thank you again for taking a look at this story. Please feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think.**

 **Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and have a wonderful Holiday season.**

 **As Always,**

 **I'll See You Starside,**

 **Soul's Release**

 **AUTHORS NOTE** (This is a second version of this chapter. I went back through the original and made a few changes to the end. I was rereading it and found that I didn't really like the way I worded things. So I went back and made a few small changes.)


	2. Resurrection

**Ruby's POV**

 _I was laying on the ground in a large clearing, in a forest that was all too familiar. The surrounding trees were covered in blood-red leaves and were swaying in the light breeze. The sun was shining brilliantly on the forest, it was a peaceful looking place, but I was in no way happy or at peace. Standing in front of me was a man wearing a leather tuxedo with a red, leather fedora. He wore an evil grin on his face and was holding Crescent Rose above his head._

 _"You just don't know when to quit, do you kid?" The man began to swing my scythe, but was interrupted when I heard a voice behind him._

 _"No, she doesn't."_

 _The man turned and I saw the familiar shape of my old friend, Bastion Ranger, standing there. He was bleeding from his nose and mouth and looked like he was struggling to stay standing. Before the man could react, Bastion lashed out and grabbed the handle of Crescent Rose. The two began wrestling for control of the weapon and I crawled away to try and grab Bastion's scythe from the ground, a few feet away. As I reached the black scythe and placed my hand around the handle, I heard a slicing sound, which was followed by a scream. I turned quickly and saw Bastion standing in front of the man with the blade of my scythe embedded in his abdomen. His shoulder was cut and the only thing holding the left side of his body together was a small amount of bone and skin at the bottom of his ribcage._

 _"BASTION! NOOO!" I screamed. I got to my feet and quickly ran over to him as his attacker began walking away. As I reached him, he fell to the ground, but I was able to catch him. "B-bastion, no! H-hang on, I-I'm going to get you out of h-here, o-okay?"_

 _Bastion shuddered and coughed, sending blood flying onto my skirt._

 _"R-ruby, stop. Y-you and I both know th-that's not going to hap-happen," He coughed again._

 _I could feel tears streaming down my face at this point. I looked at his shoulder, there was blood gushing from the wound and it was seeping into the ground, making the red grass even darker. I looked back at his face and saw that he was smiling._

 _"W-why are you smiling?" I asked as I cried._

 _"B-because. I'm happy."_

 _"Why? You're dying. W-why would you be happy?"_

 _He closed his eyes for a moment before he answered. "B-because, I met you," He opened his eyes again. "B-before I met you, my life was h-horrible. I had n-n-nobody, and then I met you. And you became my friend."_

 _I wiped some of the blood off of his face and smiled. "I'm sorry."_

 _"F-for... what?" he asked me slowly._

 _"I made you a promise. Friends to the end, r-remember?"_

 _He reached his hand up to my face and smiled again. "You haven't broke your promise. I may be dying now, but it's okay." He shuddered and coughed, hard. Blood flew from his mouth and onto his chest. "Because, think about it..."_

 _"What?"_

 _"I'm not really gone, I'm just not here right no..." He stopped moving._

 _I watched as he laid there for a while, then his body started moving again. His face, which was covered in splatters of blood began twisting and contorting as if something had possessed him. Then his eyes shot open, red as his blood and his good hand reached for my throat and squeezed. I reached my hands up to my throat, hoping I could break free, but he only squeezed tighter, crushing my windpipe and blocking the flow of oxygen. He then opened his mouth and I heard a twisted, demented version of Bastion's usually nice, soft voice._

 _"Why didn't you save me, Ruby?!" Bastion yelled at me._

 _"I-I tried... B-bastion, ssstop!" I said as I struggled for air._

 _"I'm dead now, Ruby. You said you would keep me safe, and now look. I'm dead!"_

 _I began to cry harder. "B-bastion, p-p-pleeeease. I-I-I can't breeeathe..."_

 _Bastion began laughing at me. "Good, now you'll know what it feels like to die!"_

 _As he finished speaking, I felt his hand muscles flex. Then I felt a hard popping sensation in my neck. Then, everything went black._

* * *

As I sat up in my bed, I reached for my neck to make sure I was alive. It was only a nightmare. I sighed and threw the covers off myself, swung my legs over the side of the bed and stared out the window. That was the fifth night in a row that I had had a nightmare like that. As I stared out the window, I began thinking about the next step. Torchwick had said that someone named Cinder would be able to tell me where I could find Salem, but I had no idea who this 'Cinder' was. I looked at my scroll, which sat on top of a nightstand. It was a little after 5 in the morning, so I had some time before everyone else woke up. I got out of bed and grabbed my clothes, making sure I had grabbed my cloak, and made my way to the bathroom. I walked into the small room and turned on the shower, then slipped my pajamas off and stepped in.

About ten minutes later I done drying my hair and staring at my reflection in the mirror on the wall. My usually shoulder-length hair now reached down past my shoulders and down the top of my shoulder blades. It had been a while since I had cut it, but it didn't really bother me. My face had several small cuts on it from the night before, and there was one longer mark on the top of my left shoulder from when I had tried to fight a large amount of White Fang a few months ago. I sighed and left the bathroom. As I entered the living room area of our apartment I noticed Weiss was in the kitchen making some coffee. I walked over to the table and sat down.

"Hey, Weiss," I said as I sat down.

Weiss jumped a bit and turned around. "Ruby. What are you doing awake so early?"

"I couldn't sleep..." I lied as I shifted my gaze towards the table.

"Oh, I see." She turned back around as the coffee machine made a beeping noise. "Well, do you want some coffee? I was getting ready to start searching for that 'Cinder' person, so I decided to make some to help me wake up." She then poured a cup and took a drink of the warm liquid inside.

I looked up and nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great," I said as I yawned.

Weiss poured me a cup and handed it to me. She then sat down across from me and pulled her scroll from her pocket. I stared at the cup of coffee for a few moments and then watched as she began looking at various news articles. A few minutes went by and I continued to sit there, quietly. I couldn't help but think about the nightmare I had had.

"Ruby?"

I looked up and saw Weiss was staring at me. She had put down her scroll and was staring at me with an eyebrow raised. "Yeah? What's up?" I asked quietly.

She sighed and then grabbed my hand. "Are you sure you are okay? You seem like something is bothering you."

I looked back down at the table and sighed. I knew Weiss, of all people, would be able to tell when I was lying. She was my partner after all. "No, I'm not okay." I said quickly. "And yes, there is something bothering me. I've been having nightmares about that day, again..."

"I thought you said the nightmares had stopped."

I looked back up at Weiss again. "They did. But the last few nights, they've been happening again. They're not the same as before, though," I explained.

"What are they about?"

I looked away again. "They start out the same as the last ones. I watch as Bastion fights that man, when he is hurt, and when he dies. But in these new nightmares, he comes back to life, kind of, and he..." I stopped as I began to feel my heart race inside my chest.

"Ruby... What happens?" Weiss asked me, concerned.

I looked back and my eyes met hers, with tears tugging at my eyes. "H-he yells at me. He says it's my fault he's dead, that I broke my promise to keep him safe. And then he kills me," I could feel the tears rolling down my face. "That's usually when I wake up..."

Weiss stood up and walked over next to me, then leaned down and gave me a hug. "Ruby... It'll be okay. I know it's hard to believe, but it will get easier." She let go and looked back at me and rubbed the tears off of my face with her sleeve. "Listen, we're going to find her. We're going to find Salem, and we're going to bring her to justice for what she did. But, you need to remember, if you are constantly beating yourself up about what happened, you're going to get yourself hurt," she paused and looked toward the other bedroom door for a second. "You need to remember, if you need to take a break from this, you can. Yang, Blake, and I can take care of thing without you for a few days. Besides, Team RWBY isn't really a team without their leader."

I sniffled a few times, then smiled at Weiss. "I know, but I'm the one who wanted to do this," I looked back at the coffee cup. "Weiss, can I ask you something?"

"What?" she responded.

"Why did you guys all decide to come with me when I decided to go after Salem?"

She was quiet for a few seconds, but then after she took a seat across from me again, she answered. "Because, we're a team, and that's what teammates do for each other. They stick by each other's side."

I smiled as she finished. She was right about me needing to take a break. If I continued pushing myself to hard, I would eventually end up in trouble. I looked down at the cup of coffee in front of me. I picked it up and took a drink, then set it back down and looked at Weiss's scroll.

"So, I guess, since I needed to take some time to take care of my scythe anyway, I'll stay here for the next few days and help out around here. Maybe I'll go get some groceries for the kitchen, too."

Weiss smiled and leaned back in her chair. "That would be a better use of your time than sleeping all day."

"H-hey! I only did that once!" I shouted as I felt myself get flustered.

Weiss laughed at me. "I was just kidding, besides. You and I both know that you would rather be doing a dozen other things."

I glared at her and stuck my tongue out at her.

"What's going on out here? Are you two fighting again?"

I turned and saw Yang standing behind us in her trademark orange tank top and black boy shorts. Her arms were crossed and she looked upset.

"No, we're not fighting. We were just talking. I was just messing with Ruby a bit," Weiss explained.

Yang sighed and let her arms fall to her sides. "You were being loud. Some people don't like being up so early, you know."

"Sorry, Yang." I said with a frown.

She looked at me and sighed again. "It's fine, I'm just tired. I was up late watching a news report about what happened at the bar you were at last night."

She turned and returned to her room and closed the door. I turned back to Weiss, who was drinking her coffee and smirked. "We need to be quieter if we're up early in the mornings."

Weiss nodded and returned her attention to her scroll. "Yeah."

We sat and finished our coffee together and when we were finished I went back to my room and began polishing Ranger's Rose. About halfway into the process of doing maintenance on the weapon I decided to try and take a nap. I put the weapon away and laid on the bed.

 _I just hope I can get some peaceful sleep this time..._

* * *

 **-** **4 Days Later-**

 **Unknown POV**

 _'I want to be on Ruby's team...'_

 _I watched as a large red scythe flew in my direction and pinned me to a wall, then a girl dressed in red and black walked away from me. She said something, but I couldn't make it out._

 _A bright flash, then the girl was standing a few feet away from me holding the same scythe. My face was bleeding, then another series of images flashed by. I was now on the ground, I hurt all over and I saw blade of the scythe embedded in my body..._

 _As the images stopped, I heard a scream..._

The first thing I felt was weightlessness.

As I opened my eyes I was able to tell I was floating in what felt like water. I blinked a few times and then tried moving my arms and legs, but they wouldn't respond. I moved my head, in an attempt to figure out what was going on and I was startled by what I saw. I was floating in some sort of a tank with tubes and hoses attached to various parts of my body. I began looking around and then noticed a woman standing a few feet away from the tank I was in. She was writing something down on a clipboard, but she soon finished and replaced the clipboard with a piece of what looked like metal. She tapped on it a few times and then looked up at me and smiled. It was then that the water in the tank started lowering. I began to panic as the water disappeared; within a few moments the water was gone and I was now laying at the bottom of the cold, empty tank. As I laid there, shivering, a piece of the glass lowered and the woman walked closer to me. She began disconnecting the hoses and tubes, then covered me with a towel. I grabbed the towel and wrapped it tighter around myself, but I didn't move.

I felt someone grab my shoulders and pick me up. I looked at who was holding me and saw the same woman smiling at me.

"Hello, there. How are you feeling?" she asked me.

I tried to say I was cold, but all that came out was a few small noises.

The woman smiled as she set me on top of a table. "Well, at least I know you can make vocal patterns," She turned and grabbed another clipboard, then she turned back to face me. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. I would like you to try and answer me to the best of your ability. Can you do that for me?"

I nodded slowly. I was still cold, but I still didn't feel as though I wanted to say anything.

"Okay then. First things first, do you remember your name?" she asked me as she took a seat in a nearby chair.

 _My name? What is my name? What was it... I knew it, but somehow I couldn't say it... What was it?_

The woman watched me for a few moments and then began writing on the clipboard.

 _BASTION!_

"Mmmy n-nammme iss B-bas...tion."

The woman looked up from her clipboard. "Very good, Bastion," she wrote a few more things down and then asked me another question. "Okay, now, do you remember anything?"

 _Blood... I remember blood... And the girl. The girl dressed in red and black... She had silver eyes... and a scythe.  
_

 _And dying... I remembered... dying?_

I opened my eyes wide. "I remember a girl, with silver eyes. She wore red and black clothing. A-and she had a scythe!" I remembered it now. "Her name was Ruby, AND SHE KILLED ME!"

* * *

 **Well then...**

 **I bet you weren't expecting that twist, huh?**

 **So, in case you were wondering, I plan on this becoming it's own fully fleshed-out fanfic. I knew when I wrote chapter 1 of The Ranger and The Rose that I was going to make a sequel of some sort, but it wasn't until I started the first chapter of this, that I knew what I was going to do. So, anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it was probably slow at first, but I wanted it to be.**

 **So please let me know what you think by leaving a review, I love to hear what you have to say, it really does help me as a writer. So anyways thanks for reading!**

 **As Always,**

 **I'll See You Starside,**

 **Soul's Release**


	3. Meeting Salem

**Bastion's POV**

As I sat on top of the metal table, the woman stared at me. She was grinning as she wrote several things on the clipboard she held. I was so angry. I could remember all of it. Going to Beacon Academy, meeting Ruby Rose, joining her team. But the thing that made me angry was the memory of her betrayal. She had killed me, she had used her scythe to cleave a wound into my chest, and then she sat there and watched me die.

"Where. Is. She." I said as I tightened my fists.

The woman looked up from her clipboard, she looked concerned. "Ruby Rose? Is that who you're talking about?"

I nodded. "Yeah, where is she?"

The woman set the clipboard down onto a desk next to her and looked back at me. "She's far away from here. You're safe, now."

I began to calm down after she told me I was safe. But I still felt nervous. As I continued to sit there, I began to get dizzy. I bent forward as I felt my stomach churn. "Oh, god..."

I heard the woman reach for something and then saw a waste bin in front of my face. "Here, your body is still getting used to what's going on."

I grabbed the bin and held it under my mouth, quickly. Then I threw up. It hurt, bad; it was almost as if someone had taken a claw and raked it along the inside of my throat. As I finished, I wiped my mouth with the towel that I was wrapped in and looked back at the woman. "What do you mean by that? What's going on with me?"

She sighed and took off the gloves she had been wearing. "You were right, when you said that that girl killed you. But, I was able to bring your body back to life. It's taken me two years, but you're not dead anymore. You're body, it didn't deteriorate." She paused and stretched her legs in her seat. "When I learned that your body was still relatively intact, I had it brought here and then I began the process of resurrecting you."

I sat up straight and stared at the woman for a few moments as I thought. If I had died, then how was able to remember anything. It seemed impossible, for my mind to be intact at all. "How am I able to remember anything? Shouldn't my brain be ruined, or something?"

"Good observation. You're correct. When I got a hold of your body, your mind _was_ indeed a wreck. That's the part of the resurrection that took so long. I spent almost 11 months sifting through your head, trying to restore your memory and basic brain functions. It wasn't until a few days ago that the process was finished."

"What about the wound?" I asked as I placed my hand on my chest.

"That, also, took time to repair. But in comparison to fixing your brain, it was simple."

I sighed and looked around the room I was in. There were dozens of computers and different pictures of what I could only assume were the inside of my body. One of the pictures, however, caught my interest. I slid off the table and slowly made my way over to it. I reached my hand out and plucked it from the pile of papers it was in. It was a picture of my body. It was laying in Ruby's arms, bloodied and broken. Her scythe was lodged in my abdomen, and she was covered in my blood. It made me even angrier at the girl I once called my friend. I stared at it a moment then threw it back down onto the table.

"Who are you?" I asked the woman behind me.

I heard her get up from her chair and walk over to me. "My name is Janet. Janet Starkand, I work for Salem."

My eyes went wide as she told me who she worked for. I turned around and glared at her. "Salem? The same woman who told me to kill Ruby in the first place?"

She nodded. "Yes. That would be her. Why, feeling upset are we?" She smirked as she asked me the question.

I grinned. "No, in fact I believe she might be able to help me. I want to see her, now."

Janet chuckled. "I thought you might. But first, you need some clothes. Why don't you grab those clothes and then I'll take you to her," She said as she pointed to a stack of clothing that was on a table next to the tank I had been in.

"Okay, give me a minute," I said as I made my way over to the table. I dropped the towel and began dressing myself in the clothes. There were a pair of brown leather pants with a pair of black steel-toed boots, a grey t-shirt with a black jean vest over the top. On the upper right of the vest was an embroidered design of a black bullseye. I finished getting dressed and turned back to face Janet. "How do I look?"

Janet smiled as she walked over to me. "You look good, very good good, considering you were still a corpse an hour ago," she said as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

I shook her hand off and looked at her. "Alright, I'm dressed. Now, I want to see Salem."

Janet smirked at me and then began walking towards a door. "Well, come on then. She's been waiting to see you."

* * *

 **-20 Minutes Later-**

As Janet escorted me through the dark halls of what I determined was a fortress of sorts, I was able to relax. I was still angry at Ruby, but I had a feeling I would be able to get revenge soon enough. We had been walking for a while when Janet stopped in front of a large, dark, wooden door. She turned to face me and looked very serious.

"Okay, Bastion. You are to be on your best behavior while your in here. There are only a few people who ever are allowed in here, and none of them know much about you, so stay quiet. Do you understand?"

I nodded, then Janet turned back around and pushed open the door. She led me inside and I saw a few people sitting at a large black table. At the far end was a woman with deathly white skin and deep red and purple veins running up her arms and face. Her eyes were blood red with black scleras, and they looked like they could stare into a person's soul. She wore a very long black robe with red designs resembling eyes. I assumed this was Salem.

We kept walking until Janet stopped and took a standing position a few feet away from the woman and started speaking.

"Salem, I have brought someone who wishes to speak with you."

The woman turned her face and stared at Janet for a moment and then looked at me. "Ah, wonderful. I was hoping he would be rejoining the land of the living soon," She gestured to a pair of seats on either side of the table. "Please, sit down. We have much to discuss."

Janet looked at me and nodded. She then walked forward and took a seat to Salem's left. I decided to follow her lead and took the seat to her right. The chair was cold and stiff; it lacked any padding or cushion, but I decided it would probably be best to be quiet. Salem looked at me as I fidgeted in my chair and smiled. It honestly, creeped me out.

"So, Bastion. How are you feeling?" Salem asked me.

"F-fine, I guess. I mean, I guess I was dead only an hour ago, so I'm okay despite that," I said nervously.

"I'm sure you will be able to get over it. After all, you were always very resilient." Salem said with a modicum of amusement in her voice.

"You grace, I don't mean to interrupt, but how does this... boy, pertain to the plan?"

I turned my head to see a pale man with gold eyes and a brown ponytail. He wore a white sleeveless jacket, that exposed his heavily scarred chest, with leather belts strapped to it, along with white pants. He looked... unstable, to say the least.

Salem turned to face the man and frowned. "This boy, Tyrian, is the most important part of the plan. In fact, without him, we won't stand a chance against the girl. Especially if she is searching for us."

I quickly shifted my attention to Salem as she mentioned a girl. "What girl?" I said quickly.

Salem looked at me. "The same girl who betrayed you. Ruby Rose."

I glared at Salem and grinned. "If she's searching for you, I want to help."

"You want to help? Hahaha! You don't stand a chance, boy! She already killed Roman Torchwick and his little illusionist. What makes you think you can fight her?" Tyrian said, laughing at me.

I sat and glared at Tyrian. I started to get very pissed off at the way he was making fun of me. "You wanna know why I think I can take her?" I stood up and leaned over the table. "Because she won't expect me. After all, if I'm supposed to be dead, why would I be attacking her?" I growled at the man.

"H-hey now, kiddo. Calm down, reign in the monster before you hurt someone."

"Indeed. Take your seat, Bastion. Save your anger for those who deserve it," Salem said as she forcefully sat me back down.

"Fine..." I said as I crossed my arms.

"Now, Janet, I assume that Bastion is able to begin his mission?"

Janet looked at me then back at Salem. "Yes, I just need to give him a few things, but then I can send him on his way."

"Good. Make it happen. He has a long trip ahead of him, if he is to catch up with Cinder."

Janet stood up and bowed slightly to Salem before she looked at me and gestured for me to follow. I did as I was told and stood up and prepared to leave. I bowed to Salem and then looked at Tyrian; he smiled at me to which I glared at him in response, but then I followed Janet out of the room.

"You shouldn't have done that," Janet said as she walked ahead of me.

"Done what?" I snapped back.

"I told you to behave while you were in there."

"He started it."

Janet stopped and turned to look at me a moment. "I don't care, I told you to behave while you were around Salem. I understand Tyrian can be irritating, but you should have ignored him." She continued walking after that.

I remained quiet until we reached a large room with a bullhead in it. There was a long black table near it that held a large silver briefcase. Janet led me to it and then stood next to it and looked at me.

"What?" I asked as she stared.

"Open it. It's a gift."

I turned around and thumbed open the case. As I lifted the lid I noticed a large black metal object inside with a small circular button on the side. I picked it up and pushed the button and was startled when it began transforming into a large black scythe. As it finished moving, I smiled and looked back at Janet.

"Well, I'll be damned. It's a new scythe."

"You're welcome, I figured you would need something to help you get your revenge, so I took your old scythe you gave me before you died and repaired it."

I smirked at her. "If memory serves me right, you told me that it wasn't able to be fixed."

"Well, two years is more than enough time to repair what was wrong with it," She paused and opened a small box and handed me 5 empty ammo cartridges. "You'll find that the blade is longer and sharper, the magazine capacity was increased to 15 shots, and it has more firepower; in essence, I upgraded it for you."

"Thanks. I'll be sure to use it well," I said as I transformed the weapon back into its storage mode. "Now, where am I going?"

"Mistral. That's where Cinder is working right now. It also happens to be where Ruby is, so you'll be able to take care of her at the same time." She said as she walked over to the bullhead.

"Excellent, when do I leave?"

"Right away."

* * *

 **-3 Days Later-**

 **-Ruby's POV-**

"Hey Weiss, have you found anything about that Cinder person?" I asked as I began cleaning our apartment.

"Not much, I'm afraid. All can find are scraps of records pertaining to a 'Cinder Fall' who attended Haven Academy. Apparently, about three years ago, she stopped attending classes, and no one has seen her since. If she is working with Salem, we're probably going to have trouble finding her." Weiss explained as she looked at a few notes she had taken during her search.

"Well, we could always ask around town some more. After all, we haven't done much asking around since Ruby went to that bar a few days ago," Blake said, looking up from one of her books.

I sighed. "I guess we could." As much as I hated the idea of asking around town, I knew it was probably our best bet. None of us had really learned much in the two weeks we had been in Mistral, and what little information we had gathered was proving useless.

"Have there been any recent reports on White Fang activities the last few days?" I asked Weiss as I began wiping down some of the counters in the small kitchen.

"Yeah, but not much since you took out Torchwick. All reports of the White Fang have been in one central area, near the poor part of town. Why, have an idea?" Weiss asked me, looking away from her scroll.

"Yeah, if we are careful, we can snoop around and see if we hear anything about Cinder."

"Okay, but we'd better go tomorrow, there's going to be a parade through town, something about there being a big birthday party for some company executive in town. I figured we could go see what that was about tonight. What do you think?" Yang suggested.

I stopped cleaning and thought about what Yang had said. If there was going to be a parade tonight, then most of the businesses around town would more than likely be closed. Which meant that if the White Fang were going to be doing anything, they would do it tonight.

"No, I have a new plan. We'll go to the parade, but we should bring our gear. If the White Fang are going to do anything, they'll be doing it tonight, while everyone in town is busy. We'll be able to catch them off guard."

"She's got a point, the parade will be the perfect opportunity for the White Fang to try something," Blake said, putting her book down.

"Then it's settled. We'll go to the parade, but prepared for anything weird," I said with a smile.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Here's chapter 3, I hope you liked it. This one was very heavy with dialogue, so I know some people will probably complain, but I thought it was a good idea.**

 **So, Bastion is now back from the dead and helping Salem. And he's going after Ruby. Why? Because, she 'killed' him. And he got his original scythe back that he lost in chapter 5 of The Ranger And The Rose, with a few upgrades.**

 **Also, I hope you like the way I had Bastion interact with Tyrian and Salem, I personally thought I did an okay job of portraying Tyrian's personality, but the only opinion that really matters is yours.**

 **So, go ahead and leave me a review letting me know what you think.**

 **As Always,**

 **I'll See You Starside,**

 **Soul's Release**


	4. Crashing The Party

**-The Same Evening As The End Of Chapter 3-**

 **-Bastion's POV-**

* * *

Cinder had been much more accepting of my arrival than Tyrian had been. When Janet and I had arrived in Mistral, she had been practicing using her semblance against a few androids, the many flames dancing around a large room, melting their metal forms and warping them severely. As I exited the Bullhead, one of their body parts flew towards me and skidded across the floor, which I simply kicked away from me as I let out a small laugh. Cinder must've heard me because she quickly finished and then turned towards Janet and I after she straightened out her dress.

"Janet..." She walked over and smiled as she looked at the two of us. "Good to see you. I've been lonely, having only Emerald and Mercury here with me can be frustrating sometimes."

"I'm sure. I assume you remember Bastion." Janet said as she gestured towards me with her hand.

Cinder's nice, sweet-looking smile changed to one of annoyance as she shifted her gaze to me. She looked me up and down, but stopped when she saw the compact form of my scythe attached to my back. "Yes, I remember him... What is he doing here? I thought he wasn't supposed to be arriving for another day or so."

"Yes, well, his recovery was much quicker than expected."

Two other people entered the large hanger and made their way over to us and stood behind Cinder. One of them, a girl with light-brown skin and light-green hair with dark-red eyes, was wearing a shallow-cut undershirt accompanied by white pants and brown chaps that end at her calves and an overlong belt, that was wrapped around her waist twice. I saw the handles of two guns poking from behind her, so I assumed they were being held by the belt. The other person was a boy, who was considerably taller than anyone in the room. He was wearing a slate gray and black two-tone partial-zip jacket, and black pants. There were sets of rerebraces and vambraces on his arms as well as a bandanna hanging from his belt.

They looked over at Janet and I and gave us both a look of disdain. The girl cocked her head to the side as she looked me up and down and then frowned.

"Who's that?" she asked as she looked at Cinder.

"This is Bastion. He will be joining us, here in Mistral," Cinder said without taking her eyes off of me.

"Cool, I could use another guy to talk to. Sucks having only Emerald and Cinder to talk to," the boy said with a grin.

"Oh, shut up, Mercury." Emerald was now glaring at Mercury and looked annoyed. The two of them reminded me of how Weiss and Ruby had interacted with one another. It was enough to make me want to punch something.

"If we're done with the introductions, I have other things I would rather be doing. Like, hunting down a certain red-headed murderer..." I said as I crossed my arms and stared at the four of them.

Janet turned to look at me and grinned. "Right. I actually believe Cinder here, will be able to help you with that."

"Yes I can. We actually were planning on having a bit of a 'party' tonight," Cinder paused and smiled at me. "There's going to be a parade tonight here in town, and the three of us were thinking of going out for some fun, but you can come with us. That is, unless you'd rather try and find Ruby by yourself?"

"A parade, huh? Well, sign me up," I grinned as I grabbed the handle of my scythe. "I do love me a party."

* * *

 **-Later that Evening-**

 **-Downtown Mistral City-**

 _"So, tell me again why we're out here while Cinder and the kid are inside robbing the place?"_ I heard Mercury complain across my communicator.

 _"Because, Mercury, that's what we were told to do. Besides, that kid gives me the creeps. I'd rather not piss him off."_ Emerald voice said through my earpiece.

"Will you two, please shut up?"

I turned to see Cinder frowning as she was trying to disarm a security system for the Dust shop we were at. The two of us had been taking turns trying to crack it, but so far we hadn't had any luck.

"It's hard enough trying to do this, but your incessant bickering is making it hard to focus. So please, shut up and watch for anyone who would be a problem," Cinder said into her headset.

I smiled as I leaned against the wall. So far we had had a pretty good night. We had gone to the parade for a little while and had some fun, but after Emerald pissed off some big drunk, we all decided to get on with the evening's activities. We had made our way to an unattended Dust shop downtown and easily snuck in without being detected, but the safe in the back of the store was proving to be a handful.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go look for a key?" I sighed as I looked at the safe.

Cinder groaned and stared at me. She had a face of annoyance plastered on her deceivingly sweet face, and I immediately looked away.

"Fine, whatever. Just trying to help."

She continued to work in silence for a few more minutes until I heard a click.

"Gotcha. Alright, now we're in business."

I looked back at the safe and saw it hanging open with Cinder digging through its contents. She'd opened a small bag that we had brought with us and was currently stuffing it with Lien and Dust vials. Lots of different types of Dust were held inside the safe, including Burn, Ice, Lightning, and Gravity. But the thing that caught my interest was a box with a carving of a fireball and a target that were crossed together. I walked over and picked it up, which to my surprise, didn't seem to bother Cinder in the slightest. The box was made of metal and had a simple flip-latch on the front, it was extremely lightweight, too. I opened it and saw that it was full of bullets that were a dark purple in color that gave off a warm heated glow. I shrugged as I closed the lid and put it into my pocket, then looked up at Cinder.

"Are we good to go now? I want to go looking for Ruby now," I said impatiently.

Cinder was about to say something, but we were both interrupted when Mercury's voice crackled over our headsets.

 _"Um, you won't have to look long, buddy. Looks like your friend came to you..."_

"What are you talking about, now?" Cinder said as she zipped up the bag of money and Dust.

 _"Bass's girlfriend must've followed us, cause she's coming down the street."_

I looked at Cinder, who now looked like she was worried, and then back at the front door.

"Well, I guess I kind of did want to find her as soon as possible..." I said as I grabbed my scythe off my back.

* * *

 **-1 Hour Earlier-**

 **-Ruby's POV-**

"Oh, Ruby! Look at all the parade floats! Aren't they cool?"

In the last two hours, we had seen almost twenty different parade floats pass by the cafe we had decided to sit at, and each one of them were very colorful. But, honestly, I really wasn't enthused; I was more interested in keeping an eye out for any signs of the White Fang. It was getting dark out by this point in the evening, but everyone, including Weiss, were still having fun looking at the many different floats and people in costumes that passed us.

"Ruby, did you hear me?" I turned in my chair and saw Yang looking at me concerned.

"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't listening. What's up?"

Yang sighed and shook her head at me. "Are you okay, Rubes? You seem kinda out of it."

"I'm okay. I'm just worried..." I said as I shrugged my shoulders and looked at a parade float with a paper-mache replica of Haven Academy with a few people dressed as Hunters and Huntresses.

"About the White Fang?" Blake asked from behind me.

I turned to face my team and nodded. "Yeah. I just can't shake this feeling that they're planning something big."

Blake got up from her chair and stood next to me and bent over to grab me by the shoulders. "I know how you feel, but it's been two, almost three hours since the parade started. If they were going to do anything, I'm sure we would've heard about it by now."

"Blake's right. Let's just relax and have some fun. We don't get much time to do that much anymore, we should make the best out of what free time we have, while we can," Weiss said, sipping a cup of coffee.

They were both right. It had been months since we had stopped and taken time to have fun. After we had graduated from Beacon, we had kept ourselves constantly busy with tracking down the man who had killed Bastion and who he had worked for. The last time we did was on my 18th birthday, but even that was a small break. We had a small celebration in which Yang had baked a cake while Blake and Weiss had pooled some Lien together to get me some cleaning stuff for Ranger's Rose, but overall it wasn't much. As much as I hated to admit it, I really didn't like how they had all put their lives on hold to help me. It was time I did something in return for their help. I guess now was a good time to give them something I was saving.

I smiled and nodded. "Okay, well you guys stay here a second." I got up from my chair and started walking down the sidewalk.

"Hey, where are you going?" Yang yelled.

"It's a surprise!" I said as I rounded the corner.

I walked down the sidewalk, away from the parade lights, for a while in silence as I looked at the many closed shops that lined the street. They were all closed on account of the parade, but I could still see the many items that sat in their windows. There were bookstores and clothing stores and a few Dust shops, but none of them had what I was getting for my team. _That_ was at our apartment. I continued towards our apartment and turned another corner, until I saw a Dust shop with a couple of people outside it. I stopped and hid behind the corner again as I looked at the scene. There was a man and a woman, both of which were leaning against the wall, standing outside talking to each other and joking around. I decided to find out what they were doing and grabbed Ranger's Rose out of it's holster; I deployed it into its scythe configuration.

I rounded the corner again and started walking towards the shop with my scythe at the ready. It wasn't until I was about twenty feet away from the store, that the two people noticed me. The man turned to look at me and frowned, then he whistled at the woman who was looking at something on a scroll that she was holding. The two of them looked at me, and the woman pulled out a pair of green pistol-looking objects.

"Um, you won't have to look long, buddy. Looks like your friend came to you..." The man said as he touched a communicator that was attached to his head.

"What are you two doing here? This place is closed, you know." I said as I tried peering into the dark store. I couldn't see much of anything, and the woman wasn't helping. Instead, she had walked in front of me and was blocking my view.

"That's none of your business, Rose," she said as she aimed one of her guns at me.

I was extremely stunned when she said my last name. I had never seen either of these two people before, yet they obviously knew who I was. "How do you know my name? Have we met before?" I asked as I slightly lowered my scythe.

"Bass's girlfriend must've followed us, cause she's coming down the street," The man said into his headset.

"Who are you talking to?" I demanded. Their lack of concern with my presence was bothering me.

They continued to ignore me for a few seconds until I was able to hear the distinct clicking of a pair of high heels approaching. In the back of my head, I knew I had heard it before, but I couldn't place it. Then I heard the _very_ familiar sound of a pair of combat boots that I thought I would never hear again. I raised my scythe again and glared at the two people in front of me as they took a few steps away from the open door of the Dust shop, revealing the owners of the two pairs of shoes.

Walking out of the store with a large, black duffel bag was a taller woman with amber colored eyes and black hair. She was wearing a pair of gray pants and boots, a beige leather, sleeveless jacket with light-beige details, with a sarashi tied around her waist and chest. She glared at me with clear hatred in her eyes, but stepped aside as another figure strode out of the blackness of the shop.

"Hello, Ruby. How have you been?" I heard Bastion say.

I felt my stomach drop as I saw him emerge from the shop. It had to be a dream. I had to be dreaming, it was the only rational thing my mind could come up with, but no matter how hard I tried to wake myself up from this insanity, nothing changed. Bastion was here, standing next to these three thieves and he was alive. I lowered my scythe as I felt tears begin to form in my eyes.

"B-bastion? Is it really you?" I started walking towards him and reached my hand out, but was shocked when he pulled out a black sniper-scythe and aimed it's barrel at me.

"Stay away from me, Ruby," he glared at me as he spoke.

The older looking woman turned to look at Bastion and smiled. "We'll heading back to the hideout, we'll see you when you get back."

Bastion nodded in response, but didn't look away from me as the other three people left.

I continued to stare at him as the others left, and once they were gone, I tried to form some sort of a question for my old friend.

"How?"

"How am I alive? Well, after you killed me, one of Salem's associates took the liberty of piecing me back together and bringing me back to life. It took a while, in fact, I woke up just a few days ago. But, that won't matter. Not since I'll be returning the kindness you showed me..." Bastion transformed his weapon into a scythe as he finished.

"Wait, I didn't kill you, Bastion. It was that mercenary that Salem hired, she lied to you," I tried explaining.

Bastion just glared at me some more and raised his scythe. "Then how come I specifically remember your scythe lodged in me before I died? Answer that for me."

I backed up and readied my scythe. I knew that there was a very high chance he was going to attack me. I don't know what Salem had done to Bastion, but whatever it was, it had turned my friend against me. "Bastion, I swear, I didn't kill you..."

He didn't respond. Instead he charged at me and swung his scythe at me. Luckily, I was prepared, somewhat, and raised my scythe just in time. The blades collided with one another and sent a shockwave through the both of us, but I was sent flying backwards into another store's window. The glass shattered and I felt several shards break through my aura and pierce my clothes, but I didn't worry about it too much. I brushed myself off and stood back up as Bastion fired his scythe and propelled himself forward at me. I quickly rolled out of the way and activated my semblance to get out of the shop as he collided with a bookshelf, sending paper flying in various directions. As I got back into the street, I turned to see him glaring at me, his eyes were red with rage and his chest was emblazoned with a glowing red symbol of a thornbush. Unfortunately for us both, I knew exactly what that meant.

Bastion quickly exited the shop through the broken window and looked up at the sky. He stared at the shattered moon for a few seconds and then yelled at the top of his lungs in a way that sounded almost animal-like. He finished yelling and then looked back down at me.

"I am going to kill you, if it's the last thing I do."

I frowned at him and transformed my scythe into it's sniper-rifle configuration, then slapped a magazine of Burn rounds into the receiver. I leveled the barrel at Bastion's chest and fired at him. The barrel of my weapon erupted as a fireball flew out towards him. The ball of flame hit him square in the chest, but he only grunted as it exploded and dispersed evenly around him. When the smoke cleared, I saw him smiling as he began walking towards me.

"Is that all you have? Because if so, you're going to die very quickly."

I was getting nervous. The last time I had fought Bastion, he was strong, but then again, I had used tranquilizer rounds against him. Now, he seemed much stronger. I transformed my scythe partially, so that the blade was extended, but also to where I would still be able to use the rifle parts, and activated my semblance as I jumped backwards. As I landed on the ground again, I embedded the blade into the cement and aimed it at Bastion again.

"Bastion, stop it. I don't want to hurt you," I pleaded.

"That's too bad, because I _really_ want to hurt you, Ruby," Bastion said as he continued.

I ignored him and fired my weapon at him. The bullet did the same as the first and just exploded, revealing a smiling Bastion emerging from the cloud of smoke. I cursed under my breath and decided to go all out. I gripped the handle on my scythe and proceeded to empty the clip at him, intent on stopping him. I yelled as the last bullet erupted from my scythe and exploded when it came into contact with Bastion, then wrenched the blade from the street as I waited for some sign that I had stopped him.

As the smoke cleared I saw Bastion hunched over and gripping his knees. He was breathing hard, but other than that, he seemed completely unscathed. He laughed as he stood back up and then smiled as he looked at me.

"Well it looks like they call you the Red Reaper for a reason."

Bastion stretched his arms and then flexed his fingers as he dropped his arms to his side. Then before I could react he charged forward and rammed the top of his scythe into my stomach. The impact knocked the wind out of my lungs and sent me flying into a wall. I felt my head hit the bricks, though my aura took most of the impact, and was almost immediately hit with a sensation of dizziness. I slid to the ground and groaned as I looked up to see Bastion standing in front of me. He grinned as he bent forward and looked me in the eyes.

"But you and I both know the truth, don't we Ruby. You're just a scared little girl, trying to find a way to kill the people you don't like. The people you're jealous of."

I winced in pain as I struggled to respond. "W-why are you doing this? I was your teammate."

"Yeah, you were, at least until you killed me," he laughed as he mocked me.

He stood up and transformed his scythe into it's rifle configuration, then aimed it at me. However, before he could pull the trigger, a ringtone sounded off from his pocket. He groaned as he lowered the gun and pulled out a scroll and answered it.

"What do you want, now?" He growled into the device.

I struggled to stay awake as I listened to the conversation.

"You want me to what?!" he paused and glared at me as he listened. "Fine, I'll do it, but you'd better let me keep my box of ammo." He hung up the call and then stared at me.

"It looks like you're lucky. Seems like Salem has plans for you, otherwise you'd be dead by now."

I breathed a small sigh of relief when he said he would let me live, but remained quiet as he glared at me. He transformed his scythe into a more compact shape and slung it across his back, then looked back at me.

"B-bastion, please..." I groaned as I tried to reason with him.

"Save your breath, Ruby. I don't want to hear your lies anymore." He raised his foot and smiled at me, though I knew he wasn't exactly happy. "See you around, Reaper."

The last thing I saw was him quickly lowering his foot towards my face, then black.

* * *

 **Author's Note:  
** And there's chapter 4 for you guys. I'm terribly sorry for the delay on this chapter, everyone. Over the past few weeks, I've been busy with my birthday, my mom's birthday and then I caught a case of Bronchitis and an ear infection, so yeah... Needless to say, things have been pretty hectic.

Anyways, I really hope you guys like how I put Bastion with Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury, as well as their interactions. I took some time to really go back and examine their personalities before I wrote this chapter, so I hope you like it. Also, in this chapter, I gave Bastion a nickname. Now, I plan on using this nickname in The Ranger and The Rose as well, so I hope you like it. I was kind of getting tired of always spelling out Bastion's entire name when it came to dialogue, so I came up with 'Bass.'

So anyways, please let me know what you think by leaving a review and go ahead and favorite/follow the story so you know when I post anything pertaining to this story.

As Always,

I'll See You Starside,

Soul's Release


	5. The Enemy Of My Enemy

**-Ying Yellowolf's POV-**

 **-Downtown Mistral City-**

* * *

To say that my day was rough would have been a huge understatement. When I woke up this morning, I was sure it would be different than the last few months I had endured, but it seems fate had other plans. I had a very nice morning, I had a wonderful breakfast, which consisted of a lovely bowl of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes and a rather relaxing cup of coffee. Then I got around and made my way to my newly opened bookstore in Mistral. I had decided to shy from the life of a mercenary after the incident in Forever Fall two years ago, which had involved the death of a boy who I had been sent after. After a year and a half of trying to find a new job, I finally decided on opening a new bookstore in downtown Mistral. So when I had opened the shop this morning I was in a relatively fine mood. At least until I went out for a quick lunch break, that was when my trouble started for the day.

I had made my way to a small cafe and was getting a sandwich and drink when a man in silver and black clothes bumped into me, therefore knocking my drink out of my hands causing it to spill all over my front. Needless to say, my leather tuxedo was soaked in sticky, blue soda. I was pissed; though when I turned to confront the man, he was gone. I stood there on the sidewalk glaring at no one and grumbled as I picked up my food and returned to my store. Upon my arrival, I found that I had locked my keys in the shop.

"Are you kidding me, this is just great!" I shouted to myself as I slammed my head against the door. The resulting pain in my skull made me wince and I glared at the glass in frustration. I laid my food on the ground and began picking the lock with a few pins that I carried with me, and frowned as a few people walked by, staring at me as I worked. Eventually after about ten minutes of cursing, breaking pins, and slamming my hand on the door handle, the lock clicked open allowing me inside. I put the remaining pins away and grabbed my food, which by this point was cold, and made my way inside, throwing my tuxedo jacket behind the main counter with a sigh. I swung myself over the counter, careful not to break the glass, and flopped down into my chair as I unwrapped my food. Sighing in frustration, I ate my meal in silence then decided to take a nap, since nobody had come into the shop yet today.

It wasn't until much later in the day, well evening actually, that I was awoken by the sound of gunfire followed by a loud crashing noise as the glass window in the front of my shop was shattered. I woke up thrashing as I nearly jumped out of my seat and looked at the source of the sound. A bookcase in the front of the shop was knocked down and a woman dressed in a mixture of red and black was leaning against the debris, panting heavily. I stared at her a moment, intending on scolding her, but as another person charged forward with a huge black scythe, I decided to duck behind the counter and wait until their fight had ended.

As I sat on the floor I heard the sounds of even more gunfire and the man laughed, probably at the woman. Then I heard the woman yell as a final gunshot rang out, followed by an explosion. There were a few moments of silence then I heard the man speak.

"Well it looks like they call you the Red Reaper for a reason."

My eyes went wide when I heard the name. I knew the rumors about the Red Reaper, and if she was outside my shop in the middle of a fight... Well, let's just say I wasn't moving until I was sure the fighting had stopped.

I heard a few punching sounds then a long series of hushed voices, followed by the sound of the man yelling. Whatever was going on out there was bad. I was tempted to call the police, but then realized my scroll was in the back of the store, meaning if I went to retrieve it, I would be seen. So I remained sitting. It wasn't long after, that I heard the distinct sound of something getting kicked, hard. Then I heard footsteps recede and I figured it was safe. I peeked over the counter and looked outside, and was kind of stunned by what I saw.

The woman was sitting against the brick wall across the street, unconscious, her nose was bleeding and she had a large bruise forming on the left side of her face. I frowned and walked around the counter, making sure to grab the first aid kit I had stashed behind the counter, and then made my way outside to the woman. As I crossed the street, I noticed a large red and black scythe laying in the middle of the road, with empty rifle round casings littering the ground around it. I frowned as I looked at it, then turned back to the woman as I reached her. I stared at her a moment, taking in her features.

Honestly, she looked kinda pretty, even if she had a bunch of blood splattered on her face. Her mouth was small but soft, with a pronounced jaw-line. Her cheeks, bloody as they were, were very smooth, like she was almost a happy-go-lucky kind of woman; and her hair was short, coming down just above her shoulders, with her hair color being mostly black until about an inch and a half, where it was colored red. Overall, she was rather stunning.

I shook my head to clear my head, then got down on my knee as I opened the first aid kid. I rummaged through it for a few seconds before I found the bottle of alcohol and a few pieces of gauze, which I doused in the disinfectant thoroughly. I frowned as I raised it to her face and began wiping away the blood, her nosebleed having stopped a few seconds ago. As the gauze swept over the bruise, the woman gave a soft cry of pain, which made me freeze. I quickly removed the cloth and watched her a moment. She turned her head and groaned, but then was still once more.

I breathed a sigh of relief as she stopped and leaned forward to continue cleaning her face, but seeing as Fate was a cruel, heartless bitch, my knee gave out and I fell forward, slamming my leg into the first aid kit with a loud clattering noise. I quickly stopped myself from falling any further by reaching my hand to the wall next to me, but my breath hitched in my throat as the woman woke up. Her eyes shot open in surprise and she swung her right arm out towards me, instantly colliding with my face and smacking my head into the wall.

"Holy shit, lady!" I yelled as I grabbed my head. I turned to see the woman staring at me with a face of terror on her face. She scooted away from me, her eyes wide and panicked as she trembled.

"G-get away from me!" She yelled back, she stopped moving and stared at me.

I glared at her and sighed. "Calm down. I'm not robbing you... damn that hurt..." I said as I rubbed my head.

The woman stared at me a moment, but then relaxed slightly at that. She watched me as I closed the first aid kit and sat down on the sidewalk across from her. "What were you doing?"

I rolled my eyes and groaned at her. "I was cleaning your face," I paused and straightened out my fedora. "You were in some big fight and got the shit kicked out of ya'. So I came out here and cleaned you up," I finished as I gestured towards her.

The woman's eyes shot open and she looked like she was about to hit me again. I instantly realized how I had worded that explanation and sighed again. "Not like that. By Oum, I swear, some people... Your nose was bleeding, so I cleaned your face of the blood, alright?"

She sat quietly a moment, her demeanor changing significantly as she relaxed. Then she looked at my hat as if she was remembering something painful. I noticed this immediately, her face had taken on the expression of pain and long repressed.

"Something wrong, lady?" I asked her.

"Who are you?"

"Ying. Ying Yellowolf, at your service ma'am," I said as I nodded my head.

It was then that the girl vanished in a flash of red, leaving behind a trail of rose petals which I followed. Not a split second later she reappeared where the scythe had been laying and had it in her hands, the blade aimed at me. She glared at me, hatred filling her eyes, and frowned.

"You... you're the one who killed Bastion!" She shouted at me.

I raised my hands in surrender and felt my blood run cold. "H-hey, wait a minute. Who the hell are you?" I remembered who she was talking about immediately. How could I have forgotten. I remembered every detail about how I had killed the boy, while wrestling him for the weapon. The memory haunted me to this day. There wasn't a night that had gone by that I hadn't regretted what had happened. It physically hurt me, being forced to think about it now. I had killed the kid in the middle of Forever Fall, in front of that little girl, who now that I thought about it, had a scythe extremely similar to the one that was now pointed at me. It was then that I realized who was in front of me now. This woman was the same girl who had watched me kill her friend.

Son of a Bitch...

"I-I... I'm sorry..." I said as I hung my head. "I'm so sorry..."

I heard the woman lower her scythe. "Wait, you're sorry?"

I nodded my head, but didn't dare look at her. "Yes... I had no idea... If I had known who you were, I would've just left the supplies next to you and gone."

She walked over to me and crouched in front of me. "What happened to you? What happened after... Forever Fall?" She asked softly.

I looked up at her and met her gaze. Her silver eyes were sad, but she had a face of worry and concern. She frowned as I looked at her. "Salem... she basically threw me out. Said I failed her, and then she basically banished me. After that, I never did anymore mercenary work, I was to ashamed of what I had done; killing your friend was the most horrible thing I've done. I mean sure, I've killed other people, but... Bastion? He was a kid, even if he was messed up, he was still a kid. He had everything to do in his life, and I killed him..." I felt tears tugging at the corners of my eyes and lowered my head again.

"Salem... She keeps fucking with my life," the woman sounded pissed. Like someone had just destroyed everything she held dear.

I looked up at her again and wiped the tears from my face. "From what I remember, she was deadset on making sure your life was hell."

"Really, well..." she paused a second then her face lit up and she grinned. "You want a little payback?"

I smiled at her and nodded. "What do you have in mind?"

"If you can get me to Salem, I'll make sure she pays for everything."

"I can do that," I nodded and extended my hand to her.

"Good, because it's going to be one hell of a ride, and I could use some more company," She grabbed my hand and shook it, then we both stood and brushed ourselves off.

"By the way, I never did get your name," I said as I stretched my arms.

"Ruby. Ruby Rose," She replied simply.

It was then that I realized why I thought her eyes were so interesting. She was the daughter of Summer Rose. That's why Salem was so fixated on the woman.

Well... Crap.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Well here's Chapter 5! I know this one was probably a bit of a curveball, seeing as how I brought back a character that was probably forgotten about, but in reality, Ying is going to be a very important character. Think of him as a substitute for Qrow, by which I mean that he will take on the role of a mentor to both Ruby and the rest of her team. While I know this may piss some people off, I really do have plans. Oh yes... big plans, indeed...

Anyways, for those who don't know, I have started a new Fanfic as of today... It is a major crossover project that I will be working on as well as this and The Ranger And The Rose, so hopefully it does well. I know my content is a bit odd, but I really believe the this new project will do well.

So thank you guys for reading chapter 5, and please review/follow/favorite the story so you can get updates when I post something new, and so I know what you think of the story. Remember, as an author, it is my privilege to write wonderful stories for you guys. All criticism helps me grow and is greatly appreciated.

Also, I want to thank the following for favoriting/following the story:

 **Toy2711**

 **Darklord3875**

 **Heli07**

Thanks Again you beautiful people!

 **As Always,**

 **I'll See You Starside,**

 **Soul's Release**


	6. Update! Please Read!

Hey everyone! Soul's Release here, I know that I haven't updated this or any of my other fanfics lately and I am terribly sorry for that. But I have a question for you guys pertaining to The Red Reaper:

 **Would anyone like to come up with a couple of ideas for future chapters?**

I know that this is probably a weird question to ask, but I'm kind of stuck. See, I know what the long-term plan is for this fanfic is, but I'm not quite ready to go ahead and make the next **BIG** step in the story. So if anyone would like to come up with any ideas and PM them to me, that would be great. I promise I will get back to those who message me.

Also, another reason my content hasn't been coming out is because my computer has been having a bit of an issue. I had to do a complete system wipe because it stopped connecting with my WiFi, but it's fixed now so I should be able to get back to writing.

Again I am terribly sorry, and I hope you guys are able to come up with some ideas.

 **As Always,**

 **I'll See You Starside,**

 **Soul's Release**


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